Apply for a major event licence (Event with more than 5000)

Apply for a major event liquor licence

A Major Event Liquor Licence is required if you plan to sell alcohol at an event where a large crowd (over 5000 patrons) is expected, or your event is likely to have a significant impact such as:

requiring significant regulatory enforcement effort or oversight from us and other agencies such as Victoria Police or local council
provision and organisation of public transport or emergency services
public safety and/or the amenity of the area in which the event is to be held.

We process and determine major event liquor licences for Melbourne and Victorian events. These include events such as the Good Food and Wine Show, White Night, The Royal Melbourne Show and Spring Racing Carnival.

Event organisers and managers can work with a major events licensing officer who will provide direction on application requirements, content and approval timeframes.

A major event liquor licence is not a permit to hold your event – you may still require a permit from the relevant local council.

Before you lodge your application

We recommend event organisers contact us when planning an event, and before a licence application is submitted. Depending on the size of your event, you should allow a minimum of three months for us to review and process your application.

Timeframes specific to your application can be discussed with the licensing officer managing your application.

To contact the licensing division, submit an enquiry using our contact us form

Application process

Event organisers and licensees can now lodge their Major Event Liquor Licence Application online, see: Major Event Application

The new online form is intuitive based on responses provided and allows you to lodge and pay for your application quickly and easily and automatically provides you with a copy of the application for your records.

Major event organisers with multiple applicants can continue to use our interactive PDF form to coordinate and lodge applications in bulk on behalf of individual event participants. To have the form sent to you, please contact our major events licensing team. We understand that for some event organisers, this process:

streamlines the application process
ensures consistency in licence conditions
assists working with a licensing officer giving assurance and confidence to the event organiser
helps with timeframes.

Event information

Before submitting your application, you will need to be able to provide the following event information:

event date(s) and timing, including if event is consecutive days
trading times
location/address
areas to be licensed
number of stallholders / participants
number of attendees
number of crowd controllers (security) you plan to have.

Application fee

Application fees for a Temporary or Major Event licence are to cover our administrative costs to assess an application.

Should the event that you are applying for be cancelled in response to COVID-19, a refund of this fee may not be possible. In these circumstances, if your application has been assessed and a licence granted, the application fee will not be refunded.

If we have received your application but not assessed it, the application fee will be refunded. If you wish to just change the date of your event, this may be possible and it will be of no cost to you. If this is the case please contact us on 1300 182 457 to discuss.

Application fees are non-refundable regardless of outcome. For information about the application fee for a major event licence, see: Liquor licence application fees

Lodging your application

To complete your application online, see: Major Event Application

Event organisers lodging an application in bulk on behalf of individual event participants can lodge their application by email, post or in person. For more information on how to lodge your completed application, see: Major event licence application PDF (PDF, 1.01 MB)